Sharks Can Love Too
by Roxius
Summary: Many years ago, before joining the Akatsuki, Kisame had a female apprentice by the name of Tia Halibel. Kisame X Halibel crossover multi-chapter fic. Naruto and Bleach. Please R & R!
1. Master And Apprentice

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach obviously. If I did, the story-lines would probably be a bit different.

A/N: Since this is a fanfic and all, there's bound to be some inconsistencies, and I apologize for that. I just felt like doing this since both Kisame and Halibel are kind of shark-people. And I know alot of this is pretty cliche stuff, but at least I'll try to have it make sense. I'm also really bad at fight scenes that involve so much crazy shit like ninjutsu and stuff, so please forgive me. This will be the only fight scene as far as I have planned, and it's not much of one.

* * *

This little story begins in the dense, foggy wetlands on the Kirigakure border. It would be a long time before Hoshigaki Kisame would join the ranks of the Akatsuki, and even longer before he would take his own life instead of divulging vital information to the enemy.

The shark-man had spent the past three weeks alone in total seclusion from society, training diligently with the chakra-eating blade he called Samehada. At this point, he was still a faithful ninja of his country. He had his own opinions of government and a ninja-run nation, but he still followed the orders of the Mizukage faithfully, if not grudgingly. His power was so great despite his youth that he was already considered one of Kirigakure's greatest and most vital assets. He even received the title as one of the 'Seven Swordsmen of The Mist'. He struck fear into all but the bravest of men and women who approached him, although they still died easily all the same.

Several times he was given the offer to take on an apprentice, someone capable who would essentially be able to replace him in battle if he were to fall, but Kisame was adamant in his desire to work alone. After all, he would probably end up killing any apprentice of his before they even had a chance to try and get on his good side. Nothing pleased Kisame more than to see the blood of his victims gush out like streams of crimson water; it was quite exhilarating. He was truly a monster, inside and out.

Nonetheless, despite Kisame's protests, there was a certain kunoichi who was far too stubborn to let herself be denied the chance to be tutored under his guidance.

Kisame, who had been meditating in silence in the center of a small lake, slowly opened his eyes. "I could sense that blazing chakra of yours from a mile away, you know. Samehada wouldn't stop whimpering about it." he stated with a tiny grin, revealing his jagged, razor-sharp teeth. For a moment, it did not seem like he had been addressing anyone, but then a lone figure emerged from the surrounding fog. It was a young woman of about 16 years. Her hair was the color of gold, messy with three short braided locks, and her eyes a sparkling green. The girl's skin was noticeably tan for a citizen of Kirigakure. She wore a plain black outfit that did little to hide the bulge of the well-endowed chest she possessed. The headband that all ninja received on graduation from the academy was wrapped around her left arm. Kisame recognized her as a stalker of his from a point in the past.

"My name is Tia Halibel, and I want you to make me your apprentice," the woman named Halibel stated, getting straight to the point.

Kisame snorted. "Why should I?"

"You have to," Halibel reached behind her, and unsheathed a small, yet wide sword that was completely hollow in the middle, "Or else I'll kill you."

"If you could kill me, then why would you want to be trained by me? You should think more about what you say BEFORE you say it!"

"I'm already strong enough...but what I'm interested in knowing is your ninjutsu techniques. If I can't learn them from you, then I'll make sure that no one else can!"

"You're gutsy for a chick-"

"JUST TELL ME IF YOU'LL MAKE ME YOUR APPRENTICE OR NOT!" Halibel interjected. Her eyes showed not even the slightest hint of inner fear as she stared down the man who was known as one of the most powerful ninja in all of Kirigakure. Samehada let out another high-pitched whimper; it was dying to feast on this girl's immense chakra. The shark-faced ninja was also intrigued by the woman, but in a different way. She didn't hesitate with anything she said or did. She was different from the others. It was all in her expression.

In any case, Kisame flashed his deadly molars again. "Nope." he chuckled heartily.

"Then...you will die here and now, and it will be by my hand!"

Focusing her chakra into her blade, Halibel swung, flinging a crescent-shaped blast of bright-yellow energy flying towards the unmoving Kisame. The instant the attack cut into him, he burst apart like a balloon, water flying everywhere. Halibel gasped. A pair of water-condensed sharks came charging at her, but she swiped them away easily. She didn't have enough time to react before she felt a hand emerge from beneath the depths of the lake and grab tightly onto her ankle. She could see her true target smiling back at her underwater.

Halibel's mouth, ears and nose were immediately filled with dirty water as she was pulled under. She could seen nothing but ink-black darkness as she was dragged further and further to the bottom. It would not be long before she was completely out of air. Her head was pounding, and her chest hurt when she tried to hold her breath. She could feel all of the water rushing around her. Her skin was being pricked at by the unusually sharp currents, like falling into a sea of ice-cold needles. Kisame was manipulating the very lake to tear her apart slowly and painfully.

'I need to do something...and fast!'

She was about to perform a jutsu when she realized that she was just floating idly underwater, no longer being dragged around. She looked around briefly but then a large shark, completely out of place in a fresh-water lake, chomped onto her ribcage. It didn't take long before blood started to seep from the wound. Several more sharks came swimming in without warning. They sunk their teeth into her shoulders and her right leg. She tried to shake them off, but they were relentless. Halibel fought back the urge to scream in agony. It was all happening so fast without a moment of hesitation between attacks. Their fight had just begun, but it was already over so quickly.

The loss of blood, compounded by her exhaustion and being unable to breath properly, soon forced Halibel to lose consciousness.

* * *

"...Wake the hell up!"

Tia Halibel was abruptly forced out of her coma-like state by a swift kick to her ribcage. Groaning, she slowly pushed herself up to a stand. She was lying a few feet away from the lake, completely drenched but still alive. Even her sword was still intact. Hoshigaki Kisame was smiling down at her with a blood-drenched Samehada by his side. Finally, Halibel saw a mutilated corpse lying nearby in a puddle of its own blood. Halibel leaned forward and coughed up some of the water still festering in her lungs. Kisame chuckled under his breath.

"You should be thankful," he remarked suddenly, "I decided to spare your life, and forced that Konoha medic ninja I had caught a while back to heal you up. He tried to run away afterward, but I let Samehada loose on him. It won't be long before you'll have enough energy to walk again."

Halibel couldn't help but feel disillusioned. "You...you saved me after you just tried to kill me?"

Kisame's grin became so wide that Halibel almost feared that he would swallow her whole. "You were a boring fight," he explained, "But I think that if you travel with me for a while, you can be alot more fun to tear apart...I hate fighting weaklings after all."

"O-Oh..."

"Now get off your ass and let's go."

And thus, Halibel was taken under Kisame's wing for a undetermined period of time.


	2. First Mission

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

A/N: This story won't be too long, so it'll probably have some kind of time-skip in between each chapter to show various points of the time they spent together up until the point where they're no longer together. It turns out that there is some action in this chapter as well. Sorry about that. I have a tendency to make things up as they go along sometimes, although not all the time, and I try to make it actually make sense. I'll keep on working my best, though.

* * *

"C'mon, hurry up!" Kisame barked over his shoulder. His buxom young apprentice was struggling to keep up with him as they leaped through the trees together.

Halibel let out a sigh. "I'm almost there...please...please be patient,"

"Hmph. Why should I be patient for you? You're the one who wants to follow me around, remember? If anything, you should be doing everything you can to stay on my good side, got it? Samehada still wants to eat your chakra, after all...I might just let him if I'm pissed off enough!"

"I...I understand. Please forgive me." Although her whole body was throbbing in agony from their previous training session, Halibel pushed her aching muscles enough to catch up to Kisame's speed. The shark-man let out a chuckle and nodded with satisfaction. Samehada let out a soft growl to express its own happiness. All around them the trees were zooming past in the blink of an eye. They would be reaching their destination soon enough, and then they could receive their first mission together. Halibel held back the urge to sigh again; this was one of those times she was regretting ever joining up with this psychotic shark-man.

It had been nearly three months since Halibel had succeeding in becoming Hoshigaki Kisame's apprentice. Halibel was struggling not just physically in her practice fights against him, but also emotionally and mentally. The shark-faced fighter was a vicious fighter and a loyal ninja, she knew that, but aside from learning his techniques and fighting style, she was also very interested in finding out just what made him tick. There was just something about Kisame that caught her full attention. She wanted to know everything about him that there was to know. If anything, one could say that she was obsessed with him, but Halibel personally considered what she was doing to be in the same vein as someone extensively studying a new species of plant or animal. Unfortunately, during their time together so far she had come no close to understanding him than when they first met.

'He wears that sadistic grin of his almost all the time...but why? What is he thinking? What does he think about me?' Halibel pondered to herself. Interacting with Kisame was like playing with fire; if you weren't careful, you could get burned, or even worse.

The two of them eventually came upon a small, run-down village. It was totally deserted, nothing more than the remnants of whatever people that had once resided there. The ground was littered with thick layers upon layers of black ash. If anything, it was a rather depressing sight to see in the middle of such a beautiful, quaint forest. Kisame leaped off of the branch of the last tree, and landed in front of a tiny puddle. Halibel moved a little further ahead to inspect the area. Earlier that day they had received orders to meet up with the one who would provide the instructions of their mission at this very spot.

"So...where is the person we came all the way here for?"

"Learn to be a little more patient," Kisame snarled, his eyes practically glued to the unassuming puddle, "Not everything can happen as quickly as you want it to, Harribel."

"My name is Halibel."

"Whatever. Once you're dead, I'll just forget you entirely anyway. Ha ha ha!"

Halibel couldn't tell whether Kisame was joking or not, but she had an uneasy feeling that he wasn't.

"I was kidding, just so you know. You're too annoying to forget." Kisame suddenly pointed out, deflating Halibel's previous theory within seconds. Halibel felt her cheeks flush and heart beat loudly against her chest; why did she feel happy at knowing he wouldn't forget her if she died, even if it was for something negative like being annoying? It did not take long before these uncomfortable feelings went away, and Halibel was able to relax again. Kisame continued to stare at the puddle intensely.

Halibel was just about to ask him what he was doing, when a tiny fish suddenly poked its head out from the puddle. It opened its mouth and a small scroll slipped out into Kisame's open palm. Lifting the scroll up, Kisame unraveled it and glanced the sheet of paper over only once before tossing it down his own throat. Halibel winced.

"What did it say?" she asked.

Kisame licked his lips. "There's a small fortress located not too far from here," he explained, "It's occupied by an unknown number of Kirigakure ninja who had abandoned their duties. It's our job to wipe them out before they can sell off any of our secrets to opposing countries,"

"The Mizukage is also fine with me being your apprentice, then?"

"Hell, none of them even know. They think I'm doing this all by myself."

"W-What?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's go." Without another word, Kisame leaped up into the trees above, leaving Halibel behind with no other choice but to follow after him yet again.

* * *

Before too long, Kisame and Halibel had arrived to their destination.

The 'fortress' was actually the crumbled ruins of an old prison used to detain dangerous rogue ninja or prisoners of war. The decrepit building consisted of five different floors, with the lowest floor being where the most ruthless of criminals were kept. Many of the cells had a skeleton or two lying in them, as the prisoners were left behind to die when the jail was abandoned by Kirigakure. Large clumps of moss were evident on the ceiling, the walls, and the floor. Stains of dry blood could be found just about anywhere, especially further down into the prison's depths. The entire roof of the structure was riddled with holes that allowed tiny rays of sunlight to creep through. Overall, it was not a very pleasant place.

"That place is huge...it'll take us a long time to locate the rebels," Halibel stated, "And even then, they could just as easily sneak up on us from behind and-"

"Quiet." Kisame interrupted.

"But I-"

"I said, be quiet. I need to concentrate." Kisame knelt slightly forward and began to make several hand signs in rapid succession. He slowly opened his mouth, allowing five large blobs of water to pour out. The water slowly morphed itself until there were now five large sharks made out of liquid floating in its place. Kisame muttered something under his breath in a language that Halibel did not recognize. The sharks suddenly flew off into the sky and towards the ruined prison. They soon disappeared from sight.

"What did you just do?"

"How many times must I shut you up? You only have to watch to see what happens next."

A few minutes passed silently. Without warning, the top of the prison building suddenly exploded in a massive cloud of dust and debris. Halibel let out a gasp, while Kisame simply grinned. Two of the rogue ninja emerged from the smoke in mid-air, badly injured, with Kisame's sharks nipping at their legs. One of them pulled out a kunai from his pocket and threw it at the shark, causing it to burst apart. There were still four sharks left, though, although the other ninja destroyed them quickly with a swing of a blade.

Halibel turned to her teacher. "What did you just do?" she demanded to know.

Kisame snickered. "Heh heh, those damn sharks...they still failed to kill two of our targets. At least they took out the rest. I guess it's up to us to finish things then."

"Eh?"

Before Halibel had much time to react, Kisame had grabbed her by one of her braids. She opened her mouth to speak, but was abruptly caught off when she suddenly found herself flying into the sky. All around her the air was rushing past fast enough to almost cut her skin. She looked down at Kisame, who was rapidly becoming farther and farther away, and saw him giving her a thumbs-up. He was definitely insane, she thought. Either that or a total asshole.

The two ninja were just as surprised as Halibel was by this bizarre method of attack Kisame had chosen. The three of them collided violently against one another and plummeted into the forest below. Fortunately, with some careful maneuvering, Halibel was able to use the smaller of the ninjas as a cushion to break her own fall. However, this caused a small branch to become lodged deep into his throat and killing him. Of course, this was Halibel and Kisame's original intention of killing them all, so it worked out to her benefit.

With the other ninja left, just as they were about to hit the ground, Halibel unsheathed her sword and stabbed him in the head. The mission was complete.

* * *

_Later that day, as the sun began to set..._

"I still can't believe you used me as a projectile!" Halibel shouted for the fifth time as she dragged the last of the dead rogue ninja out of the rubble. They would not have been able to receive any money for completing their mission unless they returned the corpses to the main village for inspection. Kisame had decided it was his apprentice's job to collect the bodies, except with all of the destruction his sharks had caused, it was quite a difficult experience for Halibel. All in all, there had been seven ninja.

"You didn't say you didn't want to be used as a projectile," Kisame replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"HOW WOULD I EVEN EXPECT THAT SORT OF THING TO HAPPEN?"

"Anything can happen on the battlefield."

"I dunno if being THROWN by a TEAMMATE is something that a ninja should be worried about all the time!"

"That ain't my problem. I only threw you because I knew you wouldn't fail me. Obviously I wouldn't throw someone incompetent unless I was pissed! Gwa ha ha!"

"What? Really?"

"Of course! You whine alot, but you still do what I want, and that's good enough for me,"

Halibel glanced away to hide the faint blush on her cheeks. "Oh, t-thank you..." It was an odd sort of compliment, but a compliment Kisame had given her nonetheless.

"Whatever. That's not important. What we gotta do now is carry these corpses all the way back to the village."

"How are we going to do that?"

Instead of responding, Kisame flashed a devious smirk. Halibel knew from that expression of his alone that she was going to be stuck with figuring that out.


	3. Interlude 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

A/N: This chapter is a little shorter on purpose since it sort of sets up the bridge for the second part of the fic. And I feel kind of bad for making Kisame turn so OOC regarding Halibel, but I'll try to work on that.

* * *

INTERLUDE 1

Tia Halibel felt slightly uneasy as she exited the Mizukage's office, and made her way down the hall. Although the mission of returning the dead bodies of the traitors had been successful, and although she had been fully accepted as Hoshigaki Kisame's official apprentice, the condescending way the Mizukage and the elders spoke to her made her feel like they didn't think she was actually up to the task of being trained by the sadistic shark-man.

If anything, they were expecting her to arrive back home in a body bag sometime soon. The fact that they had such little faith in her angered Halibel. She wasn't one to brag in her abilities, but she was capable of handling herself in some of the most dire situations. Although it upset her greatly, but she knew speaking up against her superiors would only cause more trouble, so she had little choice but to bare her dissatisfaction like a true shinobi and follow the orders of the Mizukage. She had a feeling Kisame went through the same thing more than once.

It was evening by the time the meeting ended, and the skies above were painted a beautiful light-orange hue. Stepping outside and into the village, Halibel was surprised to find Kisame apparently waiting for her. There were not many people out now, but the occasional passerby would always take a quick glance at Kisame's intimidating visage, whether in fear or in awe. For some reason, the blue-skinned ninja was carrying a small brown bag in his hand. Once Halibel had come close enough, he held it out to her with a toothy grin.

"W-What is this?" Halibel asked. She took the bag, and looked inside to see two sticks of dango dumplings. Halibel's eyes widened; she hadn't expected this.

"It's just something to eat," Kisame shrugged, still smiling, "I got bored waiting for you to come out, so I went and bought some food with the money we got from our mission, but those idiots gave me too much, so I saved some of it. I didn't want it to go to waste."

Despite herself, Halibel felt a little touched. No one had ever done this for her before. Usually, she had to get her food by herself. "...Thank you..."

"Just be thankful that I felt a bit generous since our mission went so well." Kisame let out a chuckle, but all of the sudden his expression became deadly serious, "So, tell me, what did the Mizukage have to say? Did he mention anything about me? He didn't seem off at all to you, did he?"

Halibel took out one of the dango sticks and began eating slowly. She had no idea what Kisame was talking about, but she tried her best to answer his question. "Umm...he just told me that he'll consider me as being your official apprentice," she explained, "He didn't say much else, aside from that, although I had a feeling he didn't think much of me for some reason."

"That's all? Nothing else?"

"That's all."

Kisame's brow furrowed. "I see..."

"Is something the matter, master?"

"...I'll be right back..."

Without another word on his part, Kisame walked past Halibel and into the building behind her, most likely to visit the Mizukage. He had one hand clasped tightly onto the handle of Samehada. Halibel chose not to follow him, instead staying behind to eat the rest of her food. However, she soon came to a shocking realization. For the first time, Kisame had shown he cared about her, but also something else...

'Dango is a little too sugary for me! But I would feel bad not eating it now, so...I guess I'll just have to stomach it...ooh, I don't feel so good...'

* * *

Kisame had only placed his hand onto the doorknob of the Mizukage's office when he heard the young man's voice call out, "Come in, Hoshigaki Kisame." The voice sounded nothing like the Mizukage's, but Kisame still recognized it well. It belonged to the true Mizukage, the one who existed behind the scenes. The one with the Sharingan Eye.

Kisame smirked. "You can see just about everything with that eye of yours, huh?" he joked.

Sitting at the desk on the far side of the room, next to a window that overlooked the city, was a man in long robes with a mask covering his face. A tiny hole on the right side of the mask revealed a small, red light. Even though they had met secretly many times before, Kisame still felt a strange calmness around this man, like he could trust him with his life even though they hardly knew each other.

"You must have heard that I met with that new apprentice of yours just recently," the masked man said.

"Yeah...she says that you didn't seem to think too highly of her, heh heh..."

"Well, she does show much promise, and she can be very powerful," the masked man turned his back to Kisame, his scrawny form practically invisible within the thick, dark shadows that filled the room, "However, she is just as capable of being a serious threat to my plans. The fact that you two are so close is something that bothers me."

"Ha! You think I'm close to her? I could strike her down anytime if I wanted to! I'm just having a little fun, is all."

The masked man paused, and then asked, "...Do you really think you could? Do you think you could bring yourself to take her life? You seem to have become awfully fond of this Halibel girl, Kisame. That worries me greatly. You must not allow yourself to be lead astray by your feelings. You always mad the right choices in the past; you always did what you thought was best for the ninja world, even if it meant killing your own comrades. If this girl corrupted you, changed you into something weak and vulnerable, then your reputation would be ruined as well..."

"I'm not changing at all," Kisame grumbled under his breath, "I still want to see this 'world of truth' you're trying to create. I'll make Halibel see things the way I do soon enough. It's just a matter of time."

"I expect nothing but success from the 'Monster of the Hidden Mist'. It would be a great shame if I lost you, Kisame, for your power is a necessary part of my plan."

Kisame bowed, and then, after a brief silence between them, he departed.

'He's wrong...I don't care about her like that at all...and if I have to prove my loyalty, I'll kill her...I can do that...' Even as he thought this to himself, Kisame felt a small hint of doubt.

He really was starting to take a liking to Tia Halibel, whether he wanted to admit it or not. When he came outside, the shark-man found Halibel kneeling over in an alley and vomiting profusely. It turned out the blonde couldn't handle the dango after all.


End file.
